Our Tired Reader...

DAY 58 - February 27, 2009

This is how I've been finding Kaleb each morning this week when I get up. He's REALLY gotten into reading lately and has been reading before bed. I've noticed his light on this week when I get up and have walked in to see him asleep either with his book on the pillow like this, his book on the floor, or once on his chest. I simply dog-ear the book for him and turn out his light so he can get a couple more hours of sleep.

I really like that he's taken to reading so much lately. I think he's read at least 5 chapter books in the last 6 weeks or so. His current book is "City of Embers" and is a series of at least 3 books. He says that he would like to read the other books as well.

How Long Will This Take Me?

DAY 57 - February 26, 2009

I had my first ever book club tonight. Jenny McElhaney organized it for the police wives, female officers, and female dispatchers. This meeting was an organizational one where we could come and each discuss a book we'd read lately. there were 6 of us tonight; Jenny, Mari Prior, Amber Houchins, Kendra Guinan, Stephanie Sloan and myself.

We all discussed the most recent book we'd read and decided to keep this format for future meetings rather than each read the same book. We liked this way because we got to hear about lots of different authors, books, and genres.

Mixed in the meeting was a bit of catching up, a bit of gossip, and a lot of good conversation about what we'd read.

Stephanie Sloan and Jenny Mac are whole libraries themselves retaining what they've read by story, author, and series. I'm lucky to get through 1 book a month these days so was afraid to commit to the club.

While there Jenny Mac offered up some of her books to the group that she'd recently gotten from the book sale at the Greenwood Library. Here is the stack of books I came home with...not all of them were from Jenny. "A Page Out of Life" was the book I'd read and "Ain't She Sweet?" (2nd from the bottom...it's hard to see) is one I picked up at the library tonight. The others are those that I checked out from the McElhaney library!

I took my camera last night and really wanted to get a picture of the group on our first meeting but completely forgot about getting it done. So, a picture of the books I ended up with will have to do. At least, until next month!

Breakfast and A Book...

DAY 56 - February 25, 2009

Today Doug and Kaden went out to breakfast at Flapjacks. They've really gotten hooked on this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant. This is a place where A LOT of cops go to eat...every time we're there Doug always sees at least 2 people he knows...usually more!

Doug was to go with Kaden on his field trip this coming Friday to the Children's Museum and Hanna House. Apparently there was only room for 4 parents from each class to go and we were not one of the first 4 to turn in the slip. If it works out, Doug usually takes the boys out for breakfast on the morning of their field trips. Since it wasn't going to work for Doug to go on the field trip they decided to do breakfast today. Kaden loves their biscuits and gravy and got a full order. Doug told me that he ate all but about 4 bites of it!

DAY 55 - February 24, 2009

Kaleb has really gotten into reading lately. He always has a book in hand and reads wherever we go. He's been cruising through chapter books from the Young Hoosier Book List at school. This is his most recent book he picked up from the school library. On the "already read" list most recently is "Room One", "Free Baseball", "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid", "SOS", and he's currently reading "City of Embers". I'm sure "City of Embers" will be finished any day now and he'll move on to "The Homework Machine".

He has really taken to reading and I'm very proud of him for that. It used to be a chore to get him to get his reading in every day. He's required to read at least 30 minutes a day 5 days a week for school. I even noticed his light on once in the middle of the night. When I went in to check on him he was sound asleep and his book had dropped to the floor. Now, he's started out watching TV when I kissed him goodnight and I found out the next morning that he started reading after his TV timer went off. If he's anything like me, I'm sure he didn't get past a page or two before he fell asleep.

Kaden, The Mayor, and an Inspiration

DAY 54 - February 23, 2009

Tonight Kaden and I took some time to work on my Project 365 album. You see, I wasn't able to buy the album that would have been SO MUCH easier to put together because the papers were already cut to size and perfectly matched. That album went on sale "sometime in January" was all I knew. Well, come to find out on January 2nd that it actually went on sale online on 1-1-09 at 8am. That sucker was sold out and the server the website selling it was using was locked up and shut down by 9am! I guess you could say I didn't have a chance!

So, I've decided to make my own album. I kinda like this idea anyway because I will be able to pick and choose my papers and give it more variety than the original kit had in it. It will however, consume much more time. Here Kaden and I are putting some color combinations together and making the journaling cards that will go into the album. We took some time over the weekend to cut lots of paper to the proper size and coordinate it a little. Kaden was the one responsible for using the corner rounder and rounding the corners of all the squares of paper. We both worked together on the color combinations and taping them to an index card to slip into the album.

I really don't mind making my own album. I get to have a lot of creative time with Kaden as he really enjoys doing these types of things. The boys are still interested in helping choose the picture of the day. I'm looking forward to getting a few weeks actually put together so I can get some sort of vision of what the final product will look like.

DAY 53 - February 22, 2009

Today was a special day for Kaden. He and I had a little Mommy-Son time today and he got to pick what we did. This big day came about because Kaleb had a big day of his own. He got an invitation to Daniel Stephens' 10th birthday party. They were going to an indoor arcade and laser tag place on the North Side and going in a limo to get there! Doug had to work so that left Kaden and I on our own to take advantage of a little one-on-one time.

Kaden chose getting some lunch and going to a movie as the way he wanted to spend the afternoon. He LOVES going to Ryan's. It's a cafeteria and he loves that he gets to pick his own food. He had mac and cheese (of course!), some pizza, some shredded cheese, and some ice cream with candy corn on it.

Next we headed to the dollar theater to see Tale of Despereux. It was a cute little movie about a brave little mouse. Kaden must have been very sleepy because he fell asleep about 1/2 way through. I tried to wake him up but he wasn't having it! He simply slid over a little closer and leaned up against me and went back to sleep. Whatever makes him happy is all I wanted for the day. When I woke him up he said "Is it over already?" He didn't seem upset by the fact that he missed the movie.

After the movie we headed home for a little Wii bowling. I thought I was doing pretty good but Little Bit ended up beating me by 8 points!

It was a great day and we really enjoyed our time together. We got to talk about a lot of things and just spend some time with each other.

DAY 52 - February 21, 2009

Today we went to the Mayor's State of the City address. The first picture here is of Mayor Greg Ballard. It was an interesting speech and the boys got to meet a lot of people. They looked so nice I just had to get their picture with Doug. Doug also saw Officer Jason Fishburn and took a minute to introduce himself. He is the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer that was severely wounded when he was shot by a murder suspect they were trying to apprehend in July 2008. Doug's cousin Jeff was also involved in this situation and was one of the officers firing back at the suspect wounding him in the shoulder. Officer Fishburn was shot once in the head and once in the chest. His recovery is one that surprised everyone.

Shed a Little Light...

DAY 51 - February 20, 2009

This is a lamp we got from my mom at Christmas. It's a very simple lamp with "shade" that sits on a little pedestal. The shade almost looks like it's some kind of stone. I love the way it glows with the light inside it. The picture is a little dark but it shows the light the lamp puts out...

Lincoln Day Dinner

DAY 50 - February 19, 2009

Tonight was the 2009 Perry GOP Lincoln Day Dinner at The Atrium. We had a great time with Dave Weiger (who lives in our neighborhood) and Chris and Kristina Swatts. This is a political dinner held every February by each of the townships. The speaker this year was Lt. Governor Becky Skillman who is pictured above.

Movies and Subs

DAY 49 - February 18, 2009

Tonight we rented a movie. Doug was off this evening so we had a little family time. The boys had apparently seen the preview for Eagle Eye when we went to the theatre to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I hadn't remembered it at all and even didn't recognize it when we went to Family Video to get it. Doug and I weren't too sure about going with their pick especially since we'd not heard of the movie. We gave it a try anyway and it was a really good movie!! It was full of suspense and action. Usually Kaden falls asleep during movies (as do I) but we were all wide awake with this one! Great movie pick guys!!

DAY 48 - February 17, 2009

Tonight we stopped at Penn Station East Coast Subs for dinner. You see, the dinner I'd made didn't turn out too well. Luckily for me (but unfortunate for Doug) Doug cooked it for lunch before going to work and found out it didn't cook right for some reason. I am not necessarily a cook but I do try. However, if a recipe calls for something I usually add it and prepare the meal as directed. I guess that's the scientist in me...give me directions and I'll do as it says. Well, this recipe called for uncooked rice which I added hastily. It turned out not cooking fully leaving the rice a little crunchy. I had received coupons for free subs from Penn Station so we took advantage of that. Our meal rang up at a little over $2! Gotta love that!

Visiting Daddy...

DAY 47 - February 16, 2009


Tonight we stopped down to see Doug at work. He's working middle shift on light duty right now as a result of his on-duty left arm injury and resulting surgery. He's been assigned to Watch Command in the lobby of the police department. It's not a fun assignment but he'll get through it. Tonight we surprised him at work and brought him a cookie we'd made over the weekend. It's tough when he works middle shift through the week...the boys are in bed by the time he gets home from work so they don't get to see each other more than just in the morning as they're getting ready to go to school. We try to stop down to see him for a few minutes or meet him for dinner.

A Quick Stop and Love from the Boys...

DAY 46 - February 15, 2009


Today was Doug's first weekend to work in quite some time. After he left for work at 2pm we ran some errands. We went to Walmart, Kohl's, Walgreens, and CVS. We had a few minutes left before we headed to a surprise 30th Brithday dinner for Steve Barrick. (Steve is one of the members of the Indy Powerlifting Team that went to the International Police and Fire Games in Orlando with us in August 2008.) We stopped at Barnes and Noble for a while to pass the time. The kids picked a few books to look through in the kids section.


DAY 45 - February 14, 2009

Here are the Valentine's Day cards from the kids to us and from us to them. It was a pretty low key day for us but we did spend the day together. I also bought some of the usual conversation hearts to go with the cards and everyone had a little sweets for the day. One thing I liked about my card was that Kaleb wrote on the inside "We Love You!" in cursive and signed his name. Then, apparently Kaden got the card and added "me too" with his name. I thought it was so cute the way it turned out!

Remember Making These??

DAY 44 - February 13, 1009

Here are the Valentine bags from each of the boys' classes. They always enjoy putting their Valentines together for their classmates. Every year they have a "Friendship Fiesta" party instead of a "Valentine's Day" party. I guess that's the politically correct title for their party...either way, Kaleb and Kaden always look forward to getting Valentines from their friends. This year, we used up a lot of extra Valentines we had around the house that have accumulated over the past couple years along with some we bought on sale last year. We had a mix of High School Musical, Scooby Doo, Over the Hedge, Cars, and Open Season.

Wildcards Wrestling

DAY 43 - February 12, 2009

The boys tried out wrestling this year and really enjoyed it. They were then chosen for the All Star Team - the "Southport Wildcards". This is a traveling team that goes to tournaments in the Indianapolis area. Tonight was a "Friendship Dual" at Beech Grove High School. At this type of meet they organize the kids by grade level and weight class. The kids pair up and have a match in a relaxed no-pressure atmosphere. The kids can wrestle as many matches as they want and it really gives them a lot of practice and experience. Both wrestlers "win" when the ref raises both of their arms after the match. Kaden asked me the first time "How do I know if I won?" and I replied that "In these tournaments everyone wins." He really liked that answer and I think it pumped him up. He was at first very apprehensive about even participating but after he got one match under his belt he was raring to go! I think he got 4 matches in the first week and this week he got 5 matches.

On this night Kaleb also got in 5 matches. He was paired up with some pretty big kids...much bigger than his actual weight class. and he did really well pinning 2 of his opponents. That's the thing about these Friendship Duals...they might not always be perfectly matched as far as weight or experience goes.

So Proud!

DAY 42 - February 11, 2009

The picture today is of Kaden's scores on his Benchmarks for February. The kids at Jeremiah-Grey Edison Elementary take monthly math and reading tests on the computer. this was Kaden's first year to take these and he started our pretty rough...getting low scores to begin with. Each month he's improved from the previous score. This month he came home and told us last week that he got 100% on his math benchmarks! We were so proud of him! Today, I got a call from Kaden while I was at work. Now, when we get calls during the day from the boys it's always for something good. Their teachers let let them call home as a reward and I'm always excited when I get one of those calls.

So, Kaden called to tell me that he got a 100% on his reading benchmark. We are both SO PROUD of him. He has struggled with his reading but really does spend a lot of time on it trying to do well. He's shown a lot of improvement this year and his benchmark score proves it. He really enjoys reading and doing well only encourages him that much more.

When I was on the phone with him I told him that we would make the picture of the day a picture of his scores...he was very excited about that!

We've Got 2 Published Authors...

DAY 41 - February 10, 2009

These are the books that each of the boys' classes published. Every year their class picks a topic to write a book on. Each student writes a page on the topic and draws a picture to go along with the their story. This year the kids in Kaleb's class each wrote on the topic of "What We Want To Be" and Kaden's class wrote on the topic of "If I Were In Charge Of The World". We've ordered these books each year and it's fun to look back and see how their handwriting and drawing has changed over the year...not to mention the stories they write.

A LOT to Catch Up On!

DAY 40 - February 9, 2009

This is how my Bubby looked this morning when he left to be a page at the Statehouse. Doesn't he look handsome?!? Doug has gotten to know quite a few people in the political world lately, including a State Representative Dave Frizell. He inquired about Kaleb participating in the Page program and they got it worked out. Usually the kids need to be at least 13 years old but since Doug had a "hook-up" they got Kaleb and his friend Mason Holmes into the program. They were to dress appropriately and I think they look fantastic!

Doug's dad took the boys down to the Government Center this morning to drop them off. I'm excited to hear how their day goes and what they got to do. Their school had taken a field trip to the Statehouse earlier in the year so they were familiar with the room they'd be in for most of the day. Kaleb was hoping he'd be able to "be in that big room with all the big leather chairs" for part of the day. I told him that was exactly where they'd be!

DAY 39 - February 8, 2009

Kaden got to take the picture of the day on this day. Doug and I spent a few hours with him by himself today while Kaleb was at Xtreme - an indoor theme park with Mason Holmes. Kaleb left at 1pm and Kaden hung out with Nick and Jonathan from about 2 - 5pm while we went to a Disney meeting to discuss our upcoming family trip in September. When we got back from that Doug and I went out to eat with Kaden. He was a little disappointed that he didn't get to do something like Kaleb did. We helped him make the most of it and enjoyed our time with just him which is something we rarely get to do. I told him he got to pick what he wanted for the picture of the day and that he got to take the picture too. This is what he chose! It's his favorite meal...mac and cheese. This night we were at Chicago Uno's Pizzeria and this is what he had for dinner. He was having trouble getting the picture while sitting in the booth so I told him to stand up. Doug didn't quite know what to think about that and we probably embarrassed him a bit but I think the shot turned out great. That's one thing I'm learning through this project...people will look at us funny when we take pictures in public. Oh well, I'm sure if they're curious enough they'll ask what we're doing...and when I tell them we're documenting our daily lives I'm pretty sure they'll think it's a cool idea.

DAY 38 - February 7, 2009

This picture was chosen for the picture of the day because it was a night that Kaleb got to hang out with us by himself for a while. Kaden went to his friend Jacob West's house to spend the night and we spend time with just Kaleb for a while. We came home from dropping Kaden off and just hung around the house. We watched some TV and Kaleb and I got some well needed snuggle time. That night, while Kaleb and I ran a quick errand to get a special snack he told me this was one of the best days ever. He said that he liked hanging out "just him" with us for a while. He went on to tell me about a discussion they had at school about a similar subject...they were discussing what they liked and didn't like about having brothers and sisters. The class agreed that, while they love their siblings, they also think it's fun to spend time with their parents alone. He commented that "if you have a brother or sister then the parents' attention has to be split between the kids" and that he was glad he got to hang out with us while Kaden was away.

This is a picture of our nightly ritual...every night I snuggle with both kids alone in their beds before they go to sleep. Sometimes we watch TV together or we talk. Sometimes, I even start to fall asleep and they let me doze off for a few minutes. I asked Kaleb if he would like the picture of the day to be of him and I snuggling before bed...he liked the idea. I took the picture by holding the camera at arm's length...only issue was that I held it with my right hand so i had to turn it upside down to push the button! I'm sure you're glad I rotated the picture before posting it here!

DAY 37 - February 6, 2009

This is the comedian Ralphie May. He got 2nd place in the 2003 season of Last Comic Standing and Doug and I both loved him! He came to Indianapolis to do a show at Morty's Comedy Joint on E. 96th Street so we got tickets to see him.

There was a WHOLE LOT of drama about these tickets...it started with me buying them. Then I found out I won them from my radio station. Then, when I called Morty's Comedy Joint about winning the tickets they didn't know anything about it. Then I spoke with the radio station and they confirmed that I DID win tickets and they would be waiting for me at Will Call. Then I got another call from the radio station that they had gotten into a "disagreement" with Morty's and I did not have tickets waiting for me BUT they (the radio station) would reimburse me for the tickets I'd already bought. THEN I had messages from Morty's trying to make it right so they upgraded the 2 tickets I'd bought to front row seats AND gave us 2 additional tickets. It all worked out in the end...I got my tickets paid for, got them upgraded, and got 2 free tickets. We ended up taking Nick and Lindsay from the gym...we had a great time and really enjoyed the show!


DAY 36 - February 5, 2009

This is a typical day with the boys getting off the bus. As it turns out...this is one of the last times I'll be able to get them off the bus for the next 4-6 weeks. Doug is on light duty at work while he recovers from his on-duty injury and has been assigned to day shift until he is put back on full duty. Both boys ride the same bus home every day from school. We'll have the rest of this year and then all of next year before they'll be at different schools. At that time Kaleb will go to the 6th Grade Academy at Southport Middle School and Kaden will have 2 more years at Jeremiah-Gray Edison Elementary.

Exercise and Food...

DAY 35 - February 4, 2009

This was after wrestling practice with one of the student coaches. He was taking a few extra minutes to go over some techniques with the boys. They've had trouble recently going after their opponent but ending up with their head down and their opponent on top of them and in control. Here he was trying to teach them to go head-in to the other guy with a lot of power and then take them down gaining control. I'm glad he took the time with them because now I can help remind them to put it to use while in a match.

DAY 34 - February 3, 2009

We got Chinese take out from our favorite Chinese place - The Great Wall. We usually get the same thing...General Tso's chicken, sesame chicken, beef lo mein (which is also known as "fried worms" after we saw the movie by the same name), steamed dumplings, wonton egg drop soup, and crab rangoons. It may look like a lot of food but we all eat our dinner from this and then have enough for 2-3 lunches for Doug and I.

As a side note...I LOVE the plastic containers the food comes in. They are the perfect size for leftovers and have lids that stay on well. I've been known to have a stack of these in the fridge containing leftovers that I take to work over the next few days. We also use the containers the soup comes in...they store everything from chili to mac and cheese and can be used and re-used often.

January 30 - February 2, 2009

DAY 33 - February 2, 2009

Pics and blog to come...can't remember which picture was today's picture...



DAY 32 - February 1, 2009

Pics and blog to come...can't remember which picture was today's picture...




DAY 31 - January 31, 2009

Tonight we went to Brian and Joann Peavler's house. There was a UFC fight on that they bought and invited people over to watch. They have 2 boys - Richey and Riley who are about 7 and 4 - so the kids played together all evening. The girls watched a pirated version of the "big" movie Twilight. It is basically about vampires and is not something I would normally go to the theater to see but it was pretty good. It doesn't come out on DVD until late March but she'd happened upon a copy that someone made. It was interesting because I've never watched a pirated movie...the color was a little off and the mouths didn't always move when the words were spoken but it was a fairly decent copy I guess...

We didn't get home from this evening out until 1am...the worst part? We had to be up and out of the house by 7am for a wrestling tournament! The boys did great going to bed...but who wouldn't at 1am??

DAY 30 - January 30, 2009


Aldi has been our grocery store of choice for about the last year or more. They don't have everything we need nor is everything there the best quality. However, I have learned over the last year what I can get there that we'll like and what I need to get from somewhere else. We've saved SO MUCH by making this our first grocery stop it's not even funny! I don't necessarily like doing it this way but I usually start at Aldi with my list and get what I can...then we head over to Meijer to get the rest of what we need. The savings have been worth the hassle of two trips.

On a recent trip Doug was with us. Our Aldi cart was packed full and turned out to be much less than he expected. When we went to Meijer for the remaining things he was REALLY amazed at how little we got for what we spent!

In this picture you can see what one of the boys' jobs is...they are in charge of taking the boxes over to the counter and helping pack up. This store is small enough and they know where things are by now that I give them a couple things to go get and they pick them up, bring them back, and head off to get more things. We've been known to completely fill our cart and be walking out the door within about 30 minutes!

**Here is a bonus picture for today:

My Mom, my Aunt Jean, and their best friend Debbie would be so proud! After shopping at Aldi's on the above night the boys and I went next door to Goodwill. I've heard some good things about Goodwill lately and wanted to check it out for myself. We didn't spend a lot of time here but enough to see what they had. The boys liked the toys and books and I checked out the miscellaneous "junk" shelves...you just never know what you'll find there I guess. I didn't get much and for my less than 3 dollar purchase but walked out with 1 large glass jar and 2 small jars with lids as well as an unopened pack of notecards. Not exciting I know, but pretty good for about $2.60! The glass jars will be used for storing some scrapbook things and the notecards will be put to use in the album I plan to make (eventually) for my Picture-A-Day project.